The Extraordinariness of Normality
by kitsu012
Summary: They were extraordinary. Everyone knew that. So it was particularly surprising when they were asked to do something extraordinarily… normal.


The Extraordinariness of Normality

Chapter One: Villainy of a Different Level

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans.

The Teen Titans were a far cry from normal. They did extraordinary things to keep their city safe. The mayor of Jump City, who had asked the Titans for an audience and was now sitting on one of the plush chairs of Titan Tower, knew that. The principal of Jump City High School, who was equally comfortable in another plush chair, knew that. The Titans themselves knew that. Everyone knew that. So it was particularly surprising when the mayor asked them to do something extraordinarily… normal.

"_Dude_—ah, I mean, Mr. Mayor," Beast Boy amended when Cyborg, Robin and Raven all turned to shoot him warning stares and glares, "Are you seriously asking us to go to _school_?"

The Mayor sighed. The Council's plan was going to be more difficult to carry out than he had first thought.

"Beast Boy, putting it that way seems less to the point but when it comes down to the heart of it, yes, I am asking you to attend school."

Beast Boy looked like he was somewhere between feeling surprised and horrified. Cyborg didn't say anything about the matter but there was a slight down twitching of his lips that could have been either seriousness or displeasure. Raven, ever the practical one, started calculating risks and merits from the Mayor's plan; in her contemplative state of mind, she had taken a look of despondent concentration. Starfire just blinked in confusion and wondered what the big deal was.

Every city had people to run it. These people, voted on by the majority, in turn, "served" the city by creating laws and projects that would be able to better the state of the city. It just so happened that in the agenda of the new City Council, education was high priority. That meant more scholarships and projects for schools and the youth. Apparently, they really were serious about their promise of "Education for All!" Serious, to the point of making every youth educated—even villains and heroes.

Finally, Robin broke the silence between the mayor, principal and his team, "I'm assuming, then, that if ever there would be attacks and other offenses on the city, we may be excused from academic activities?"

The stout mayor nodded to the principal and said, "Mr. Helsom," signaling that it was his turn to talk. The lanky man cleared his throat and let out a surprisingly mild and pleasant voice. With unkempt fair hair and baggy clothes, it was hard not to imagine him sounding gruff and hoarse. Looking at him now, though, it was harder to picture him out as a principal of the most prestigious school in the city.

"You are all required to be in school to attend class on class days but unfortunately," he drawled, "it is equally—or probably more so—necessary that you keep the city protected. As for your dispatch, your alibis will be in the form of calls to the office and the like. Of course, we will need to consider how many of you will be going out, judging from the intensity and strength of the criminal atrocities…"

He left that last part hanging like bait and studied the fishes in front of him. They all looked like they despised the plan minute by minute, he mused. Well, except for the orange girl. What was her name again? Starfire? She seemed amused and confused more than anything.

The one they called Beast Boy shook his head, "We always fight together!"

The principal sat unsurprised, expecting the response from the green morphling.

"If ever the need arises, you will all get to go."

"That's—"

"Let's just hope that there would not be a time of need for such drastic measures, hm?"

"But—"

"Besides, the ones who stay can keep an eye on the… young offenders of the law that are also going to school."

"What—"

"Beast Boy," Robin and Raven both called at the same time. One frowned warningly and the other glared. Even with all their differences, they both really just wanted to silence their impetuous teammate right now.

"Fine, I'll shut up," He whimpered and proceeded to cross his arms and grumble at the unfairness of the world, "Nobody ever listens to poor little Beast Boy."

Mr. Helsom smiled at the two bird-named members of the Titans. "Hmm… I can see a resemblance now. Siblings and cousins should be alright," he muttered. It had not gone unnoticed.

"Excuse me?" Robin asked as Raven raised an eyebrow in question.

The principal's grin grew wider. He gave the mayor the signal. Some confidential matters were now to be discussed and the mayor excused himself.

"Huh. I thought he'd stick around through it all, being…" the principal gave Cyborg a look, "an important man and all."

"Oh, he's important all right," the principal said it so offhandedly that it made the Titans think he thought otherwise, "But he came here just for formality. It's _my_ school and the privacy of the students is my responsibility."

The teens suddenly turned uncomfortable. Now that he mentioned it…

"Mr. Helsom, I don't think we'd have much privacy and space in a school when everyone knows we're the Teen Titans," Cyborg said, airing out his teammates' thoughts.

"Simple," the principal said lazily, "Drop the Titans and you would be just plain Teens, right?"

Gears started turning in Cyborg's head, Raven glared at Beast Boy before he could bombard them again with indignant protests and Robin nodded in understanding.

Starfire, puzzled by the man's wording, wondered aloud, "I'm sorry, I do not understand. What does he mean by dropping us, leader and friend Robin?"

"He said to drop the 'Titans' part in our title, leaving just the word 'Teen'. He wants us to keep our hero identities secret, Star," Robin said patiently.

Hundreds of thoughts and questions were now swimming in Beast Boy's head and Raven's glare couldn't hold them in anymore. "Hello! I can't just waltz in there if I don't want them to know I'm me," and he pointed to himself, "Look at me! I'm practically green all over!"

Surprisingly, Cyborg answered with a smug and enthusiastic, "Simple. I make some appearance altering device with my mechanical magic."

"My dear boy, you just read my mind," said Mr. Helsom in delight, and in a graver voice, "Is two weeks enough time for you to create the device?"

"Oh please, two weeks is more than enough time," boasted Cyborg.

Beast Boy gaped and stared at Cyborg, trying to mentally tell him to not give the psycho principal any ideas.

"In fact, I can get it up and running by Monday—or maybe even earlier if you want!"

Apparently, subliminal messages and threats were not Beast Boy's forte. How did Raven do it?

"Make it ready by next week then," said Mr. Helsom with finalization and Beast Boy slumped.

"Okaaay," Beast Boy said, a bit depressed now. "So me and metal boy here use this device. How are _you_ guys going to go about with your identities?" he asked Raven, Robin and Starfire.

"I'm guessing with hair dyes and contacts?" Robin asked Mr. Helsom.

The man nodded and he noticed a scowl of disgust forming on Raven's face at the mention of dyes.

"And I want some sort of thing to link you all to make things less complicated."

"What kind of thing?" Raven muttered, now slightly resenting the plan.

Mr. Helsom thought for a while before saying, "You and Robin will be siblings and the rest of you will be cousins."

Now they all looked at him like he was crazy. "Calling you out and excusing you would make things more convenient and easy if you were related," he explained.

"Okay, I can understand the cousins part but how can you make _them_," Beast Boy made dramatic hand gestures towards Robin and Raven, "brother and sister?" He then started cupping Raven's face in one hand and turned it up, down, left and right. "Now that I look at Raven though, she _does_ have Boy Wonder's serious look," his prying of Raven's face earned him a glare and she smacked his hand away, "But there really is no resemblance other than that."

"Tut tut, they can be step-siblings then."

Raven gave a barely audible indignant snort. The principal was making things more complicated with all this family planning.

"Why'd you make them the siblings though?" asked a curious Cyborg.

The principal sipped the tea the Titans had made for him a while ago and just shrugged, "They just seem the closest. Don't you guys think so too?"

Cyborg raised his brows at the principal skeptically. Beast Boy looked incredulous; he'd always thought he was the closest to the silent Titan. Starfire felt something inside her she didn't really have a name for right now but she knew it didn't feel good. Robin caught Raven's eye and saw her brows furrow in question. _Do you think he knows about our bond?_

When the principal put down his cup to look at the Titans, he found them still waiting for a serious answer. So he really couldn't help himself when he said, "I actually know about a prophecy that entails the creation of a fake sibling bondage of Robin and Raven and cousin relationship for Beast Boy, Cyborg and Starfire. Without my doing so, the world will be annihilated in liquid fire and ash and earthly rumbles would then result to massive tsunamis that would make the first flooding of the world seem like nothing."

And then there was silence.

"Why'd everyone suddenly turn so quiet?" Mr. Helsom asked. When everyone kept staring at him, he sighed. "If you really must know I just saw Robin first and Raven last. I decided earlier to make things unbiased; the first and last I see would be siblings and the rest cousins," then he sneered mockingly at them, "Sheesh, can't you guys take a joke?"

"That was a _joke_?" grumbled Beast Boy, "And people complain about _my_ jokes…"

Robin gave the cloaked female Titan a reassuring subtle shake of his head. _No, he probably doesn't know anything._

"Before anything else though," Mr. Helsom said, suddenly serious, "I want you all to trust me."

The Titans looked at each other, bewildered by the request.

"Trust can't be given that easily, Mr. Helsom," Robin said carefully.

Mr. Helsom just smiled and said, "I know." After a contemplative silence he asked, "Would you trust me if I told you that I've talked to a certain… friend of yours about you? Told me _rich_ stories about you, that bloke did."

The way he stressed that word seemed like… Robin didn't know if he was being paranoid or not. When he saw Raven take a protective step near him, he knew she had sensed it too. She had been in his mind and she knew things no one else knew; the death of his parents, his adoptive guardian, his real name.

"Who did you talk to, then?"

"Someone you trust."

Robin narrowed his eyes. "I don't trust many people but there are enough to not let me know who you're talking about."

Mr. Helsom stared at Robin as he tapped his fingers on the coffee table. "Someone… batty."

The mask boy stared back for a few seconds before saying, "I see."

"Do you?" the man asked. The atmosphere in the room tensed as their leader and their would-be principal stared and sized each other up. After a few moments, Mr. Helsom turned to look at his watch, blinked and said, "Drat. Look at the time. Well, now that the first important matters are discussed and settled, I should be off now."

The Titans all moved to see him out of the Tower. Before he could go inside the City Council's hired drive though, Robin called to him and said, "I still don't trust you."

He paused, his back to the Titans. "I see."

The chauffeur opened the door for him and they heard him muttering about being able to open a door himself.

Just as he was about to enter the car they heard him say, "To tell you the truth, Robin, I don't trust even myself." And with that, he was gone.

* * *

Hello, people. This is my first story upload. I hope my way of writing isn't confusing. I confess that I only write when I'm either disturbingly depressed or immensely inspired (I'm inspired right now, thank goodness); most of the time I'm feeling in between. I'm also not particularly fanatic with writing. I just go with what I feel and well, I felt writing and uploading this story. Anyway, please share your thoughts :)


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